. Don't Call Me Shirley A Comic Homage Robert Hayes as reluctant pilot Ted Striker: “Surely you can’t be serious!”...

. On the Epstein Files Debacle ---a villanelle Where are those awful Epstein files? It doesn’t matter left or right!...

. One Dumb Mistake When young I made a dumb mistake And was arrested by the cops. I found myself...

. Not All Angels Play the Harp Not all angels play the harp, _Or sing in heaven’s choir. Some of...

. Living Dead The riffled rush of water mingles withThe wind among the Ponderosa pinesAs damp chill of late summer...

. Martha “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her...

. The Harvest As drops of water drop and drip and drop, Each dripping drop soon fills the deepest crack....

. Unspoken Moments A sunpatch nap the first warm day of Spring, A curled up kitten sleeping in your lap,...

. The Hokey-Cokey---Chaucer Style With music was a dingy tavern blessed, In Southwark, where we stopped to take our rest....

. Poetic Influences Elements swirling in motion,Music in splashes and streams!Waterfall, wild rushing river,Nature is stirring up dreams. Fog on...

. Of a Feather Professor Swann was new among the fonts of knowledge chugging up the tenure track; he'd earned...

. Vesper At dewfall Pipistrella brings her silent flickering silhouette to haunt the after-glimmerings that linger on the garden yet....

. Lasting Karma What’s the key to living life that matters? How do we spend this precious time on earth?...

. Myths _I mined the Grecian myths _and wrung from them this gem: The gods amuse themselves with us and...

. Poetry as a Pathway to Critical Thinking —with a focus on metaphor and image Poetry: “the right words in...

. In this poetry challenge, poet Roy E. Peterson challenges you to post a classic poem and a poetic response...

. The Flower’s Refrain A tender shoot breaks through the ground, Drawn upward by the golden sun; It spreads its...

. Family Affair It was an educational affair, So many distant relatives were there, And it was nice to learn...

. Pope Leo XIV’s Green Mass My aim is red. My game is green. _I’m cloaked in clouds of white....

. For Liza Am I Westward Bound _The year was 1868, __The place—Old King James’ town, _Young John was by...

. The Pervading Presence The summer gleams in meadow, stream, and hill Beneath the warming sun of mid-July; No sudden...

. Simply Chilling . I. A Boring Villanelle My humdrum life has been a constant bore--- An unembellished scene of...

. After If ---with affection and all respect for dear Rudyard If you can keep your heart when all about...

. Eternal Rose, with Rows and Rows: Canto XXX of Paradise by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) translated by Stephen Binns Six...

. On Never Giving Up On reaching the point where it's tough to find answers to _“What-are-we-doing-this-for?” And the number...

. There Are No Words ---on the July 4th Texas flash floods There are no words to quell a swell...

. When Lovely Woman Stoops to Folly… by Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) When lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too...

. From Faust: The Tragedy, Part I Prologue in Heaven by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) translated from German by...

. On Quantock Hills On Quantock Hills, as Skylarks sing aloft, A humble pilgrim walks on ways of old, In...

. The Juggler ---with special kudos to George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg, Taylor Swift, Susan Sarandon, Tom Hanks, Mark Hamill, Robert...

. Optimism ---to the Class of 2025 The world is cold and hard and dark enough; We need not cloud...

. Never Time to Spare ---a villanelle My daughter, I am watching you with love for I’ve been there, When...

. Bodie The whistled whispers of a desert wind Drift through the dusty streets and haunted halls Where faded lives...

. Independence Day, 2025 It’s so much more than red and white and blue And stars that spangle banners flying...

. IRL —after G.K. Chesterton’s "A Ballad of Theatricals" (reprinted below) Though all the emails I receive—surprisingly politely read—Although the...

. The Playland Once in a playland caked with fresh-born mud, I saw a league of book-freed children smile collectively...

. Request for Expression of Interest SCP Poet Russel Winick has graciously agreed to host an in-person SCP Symposium at...

. Summer Family Cookout Criss-cross, hamburger toss, _Flip that sizzlin’ patty! Pretty please, and top with cheese! _You’re the Great...

. Bayesian Hubris v. Mercy Seat 11A “Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, who miraculously walked away from the Ahmedabad disaster, in...

. Gorge Millennia before the Bass Pro tours, Sonar fish finders and electric reels, Some unsung pioneer dreamed baits and...